


Loving Too Late

by thatcrazywriterley



Series: The Too Late Tales [25]
Category: AEW, All Elite Wrestling, Being The Elite (Web Series), Young Bucks-Fandom
Genre: Father's Day, Multi, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, Slice of Life, brothers share a wife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:59:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24860440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: It's Father's Day at the Jackson compound.
Relationships: Matt Jackson/Reader, Matt Jackson/Reader/Nick Jackson, Nick Jackson/Reader
Series: The Too Late Tales [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695274
Kudos: 4





	Loving Too Late

_(GIF owned by cowboysht on TUmblr)_

Mattie grinned as she finished setting the table. She’d meticulously arranged places for seven—one for her Dad, her Papa, me, herself, Nicole, Lee, and RJ—and tugged the highchair into place for Ty. Nicole and Lee worked together to sit a row of ten cards down the center of the table. RJ and Ty were playing their roles perfectly—keeping Matt and Nick occupied in the back yard.

“Okay,” I said, double checking the food set out on the counter. Skillet baked macaroni and cheese. Chicken lasagna. Mashed sweet potatoes. Buttered sweet rolls, and a homemade apple pie for dessert. “I think everything’s ready. What do you guys think?”

Nicole came to stand next to me, surveying everything they’d done. She smiled and nodded. “Me, too.” She looked at her brother. “You did a great job on the banner, Lee.”

He beamed, proud of his sister’s praise. “Can I go get Dada and Papa?”

I grinned and leaned over to press a kiss on his dark hair. “Of course, you can. Go on, then!” I gave him a tap on the butt, and he squealed, running out into the backyard. I could hear his voice shouting for his fathers’ attention.

“Quick!” Mattie said, grabbing me and her sister by the hands. She tugged us back around behind the counter where we’d stowed Lee’s handmade banner. We ducked down, and I was suddenly struck by how much my little girl had grown.

She was twelve now and already as tall as me. She’d be looking Nick in the eye before she was finished growing. Hours in the Southern California sun had lightened her dark brown hair and brightened her blue eyes. When I looked at my oldest, I could see so much of Matt and Nick in her. She was so kind and thoughtful, intelligent and fierce. I didn’t want to think about her being a teenager soon.

The last two years had been rough ones for our family, and Mattie had taken it particularly hard. She’d tried to stick it out at school, but she’d eventually begged us to homeschool her. A new principal had tried to make it better for her—and honestly, we’d had none of the same problems with Nicole or the boys—but the damage had been done. She went to a co-op with a few other kids and got to travel with the boys when they went away for a show. That was her saving grace, I think. Being able to go with them to shows, to learn from them and the others in real time. I hated to think what might have happened without it.

“We’re coming, we’re coming!” Matt said, his voice just a little exhausted. Four-year-old RJ helped his older brother to pull Matt along into the kitchen. Two-year-old Ty was riding on Nick’s shoulders.

Mattie looked at us, counting quietly. When she whispered _three_ , we jumped up from behind the counter, stringing the banner between us. Lee had been very careful coloring in the letters that his sisters had traced out on the paper. _Happy Father’s Day_ stood out from the white butcher paper in a flurry of Crayola colors. Black marker outlines and multi-colored paint handprints decorated the edges. Somehow—I wasn’t going to ask for too many details—Bandit, Ranger, and Oreo had gotten their pawprints there too.

I held up my phone, camera rolling as the boys took in the sight in front of them. Their favorites spread out on the counter, a handmade banner by their kids, and ten cards. And, most importantly, their children happy, healthy, and ready to celebrate them.

I watched them, so I saw the moment when Nick reached for his brother. They’d grown closer in the time that we’d put our family back together. Nick’s hand closed over Matt’s shoulder. Matt looked back, and a knowing look passed between them. My heart felt light and bright in my chest. I loved them desperately, and I couldn’t ask for more than for our family to be whole, for them to know how much we would be lost without them.

“Did you guys do all this for us?” Nick asked, looking around the room.

Nicole put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Yep. And we kept it all a secret.”

Matt laughed, swiping his fingers beneath his eyes. “Thank you, Bug.” He looked at the others and his eyes misted over again. “Tea, little man, c’mere.”

I felt the tears running down my cheeks as the kids gathered around Matt and Nick. The boys knelt on the floor, arms wrapping around their children as if they’d never let go. I kept the camera rolling as much for myself as for them. Whatever had happened, the one thing that hadn’t changed was the fact that they loved their children more than anything else in the world.

“Alright,” Nick said, wiping his eyes. He took a deep breath and smiled. He clapped his hands twice. “Let’s do it, Jacksons.”

Like little soldiers, the kids lined up around the table. Matt said grace, his voice wavering as he thanked God for his father, his brother, the kids, and me. Once he was finished, he looked around at the kids. “Go on, get your plates.”

Mattie and Nicole vehemently shook their heads. “No. You and Dad go first.” The girls practically shooed them toward the counter.

Nick laughed and looked over at me. “You’re both just like your mother,” he said playfully, dropping kisses on their foreheads as he passed by.

“Thank you,” Nicole said with a grin.

I leaned against the counter, camera still rolling, as Matt and Nick started filling their plates with everything they wanted. I grinned as Matt stuck his finger in the macaroni, licking up the melted cheese. “Is this Cracker Barrell?”

“No,” I replied. “Homemade.”

Matt’s brows went up. “You sure?”

I laughed. “You sound like I can’t make good baked macaroni and cheese.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he replied sheepishly. “But I’m going to shut up and eat.”

Once they had their food, they went back to the table. Mattie took control of her brothers, helping them fix their plates and carry them over to the table. I smiled, so incredibly proud of her even as I worried that she’d been forced to grow up too fast.

“Open your cards,” I said, gesturing toward the table. “The kids picked them out themselves.”

***

Matt and Nick had fallen asleep on the sofa in Nick’s house, the kids gathered around them from watching a movie. Ty slept with his head on Nick’s shoulder. Lee had his head pillowed on his Dad’s thigh. Nicole and RJ were snuggled up on each side of Matt, his arms draped protectively around them. Mattie slept between them, head in Nick’s lap, feet tucked behind her sister’s back.

I took a couple pictures, knowing that I was going to get one and print it to hang in both houses. In the quiet moments like this, I could take time to appreciate everything I had. For fifteen years, I’d had Matt, who loved me with a completeness that was more than I could have dreamed. I’d had Nick, who had been my best friend, who loved me fiercely and unselfishly. Through all the ups and downs, the worry and confusion about this life we lived, they’d done their best, loved me, loved each other, broken and rebuilt, held together and made everything worthwhile.

Every one of my children were beautiful and breathtaking. They were the best thing that ever happened to me. I would die for each and every one of them. I smiled and wiped away the tears on my lashes.

Matt opened his eyes, blinking as he realized where he was. Nicole let out a harrumph at being jostled, but snuggled right back to sleep against her Papa’s chest. I met my husband’s eyes and smiled. “They’re getting too big to carry to bed.”

Something sad passed over him. “They’ll never be too big.”


End file.
